Gatsby's Last Day (Unabridged)
by jammywho
Summary: Gatsby talks us through the ghastly events that lead to his death in his final moments, his life flashes before his eyes...
1. Monologue

_(Gatsby's mansion. A long corridor dotted with portraits. In the foreground, a dynamic, shining bronze sculpture of a man with an indistinct face. Gatsby in his exquisite pink suit is looking over it intensely)_

**Gatsby:** It's quite impressive, isn't it? The sheen? And the statue, it just looms, doesn't it? Well it should, for what I paid for it. It's meant to be me, can you tell? At one of my gatherings, I met this rather interesting artist; he stopped for a moment and told me how I'd inspired him in some way or other. I asked him how, but he said he had to get home before he lost touch with his vision. I'd say he'd already lost touch, because that doesn't look much like me at all.

He said it's supposed to represent wealth. He called it Plutus, I believe. I've never really understood the artistic perspective, but I hope this looks more like Plutus than it does me. Some of the gold's coming off and look, just limestone underneath. That artist must be laughing at me behind my back.

Mind you, art's a must in this society; shows gravitas. I think it's a little pretentious, but you need to build status or they'll kick you out of their little circle. This one's different though;

_(He gestures to a painting behind him) _it's based on this picture I took when I first met Daisy. I've had this up-and-coming artist make it into an oil painting. I'm paying him in exposure. I've told him to add colour and to remove this disorderly chap from the background. I'm showing it to Daisy tomorrow.

I'm still waiting for her call. She said she'd call. She did say, didn't she?

_(He moves into his bedroom, a similarly luxurious abode)_

Maybe I should go for a swim. I've got a whole pool that I've never once used. Butler! I'm going for a swim. Shout for me if the phone rings, will you? Now all I need is a bathing suit.

_(He begins to root through his various wardrobes, searching for a bathing suit, but despite an abundance of clothes, he can't find one.) _

Hmm. Perhaps…

_(He delves deep into one of his wardrobes, pushing back several shirts to find a cardboard box covered in faded writing of which only a 'z' can be made out. He opens it to reveal pictures of an elderly couple, a yachtsman, a high school certificate, some knitted gloves and right at the bottom, an old bathing suit that has seen better days. He takes out the bathing suit and hides the box again behind his many layers of expensive clothing)_

_(Fade to black)_

_(Fade back in to reveal Gatsby in his bathing suit, walking carrying an inflatable mattress through the orchard that separates his mansion from the pool. It is night-time.)_

_(He throws the mattress into the pool and turns around to reveal Wilson behind him)_

**Gatsby:** It was Wilson, but in that moment he reminded me of Tom Buchanan. He was standing there with a two-barrelled gun levelled at me. The decoration on the handle was exquisite and I couldn't help thinking that it was far out of Wilson's means to purchase it. Naturally I assumed this was to do with the death of his wife. For all my ideals, I didn't think I could lie to him just to protect Daisy.

"I'm sorry" I said, but before I could explain further, he fired. There was a green blast from the gun chamber, and a bullet came roaring out. But at the same time, the gun seemed to explode in Wilson's hand, blasting him backwards, killing him. Another victim of the carelessness of the rich. But what's one man worth?

And then the shot hits me and the impact blows me back; pulls me back. I'm in the car with Daisy –she's everywhere and Myrtle's flying away. She doesn't even slow down. Then there's the grief, that sets in and I'm in The War again. Mud covering my uniform; scars in plain sight across my face. My comrade, Jack falls on me and I'm covered in his blood. His helmet's in shards all over me. His brain's been blown out and all because his helmet's a dud. But what's one man worth?

My back hit the mattress and the water erupts around me like that night on Dan's yacht. I see him fall off the side as a wave crashes against the stern. And it occurs to me that I have his yacht, with his wallet and his clothes downstairs. I could just leave and it would be mine, but then I'd be alone and I couldn't face that. So I jump in after him. Because what's one man worth?

And then the sea dies down and I've washed up on a beach. I see Daisy, young and pure, before she ever met Tom and her eyes are a glistening green and just this once they were within my reach. She knows me now, but she's here anyway. I go to touch her face and kiss her…

And in a blast of white, she's gone. It's all gone.

You can't take anything with you.

What's a man worth here?


	2. Commentary

My reason for combining The Great Gatsby and Talking Heads is obvious; to tell Gatsby's story, which has been distorted by rumour and a possibly devious narrator due to the characters' view of Gatsby as an enigma, from a perspective that is potentially more truthful and from the one source we never hear from; Gatsby himself. However, not even Gatsby would be so loquacious about his biography, which is where Alan Bennett's style of subtle details comes in; Gatsby betrays many secrets about himself through his monologue without realising them himself and this allows us a more intricate view of his past. The two texts deal with similar themes such as isolation and the climaxes of Bennett's work often allow a whole new perspective as the character experiences a catharsis in an unlikely setting, such as when Kafka sees his father as God in Kafka's Dick.

The Plutus (the name for the Roman God of wealth) is symbolic of Gatsby's nouveau-riche status, as he has the money (the outer bronze plating) but not the experience or class that the old rich have (which is symbolised by the limestone, a cheap material compared to the bronze on the outside) and shows how he is pretending to be something he's not by donning the bronze plating. Similarly, his comment that the Plutus doesn't look like him shows how he isn't reflected accurately by the rumours of his character that are spread around town. However Gatsby shows that he is aware of this rumour mill by saying "the artist must be laughing at me behind my back" as the artist only sees the wealth of Gatsby rather than his character.

The picture Gatsby is having converted into a portrait is representative of how Gatsby sees the past; rather than the photograph, which depicts the event as accurately as a still image can, Gatsby prefers the painting, which has had colour added to it and offending elements removed so as not to sully his idealistic visions of the past, keeping him from seeing Daisy as a person with flaws and taking her off the pedestal.

One of the main aspects of Gatsby's character that we are certain of is his nostalgia for the past and his hope to repeat it. I chose to allow him to, in an ironic sense, by having his life flash before his eyes as he dies, to show him the error of his philosophy. The more traumatic events, such as his experiences of The War and Dan Cody's yacht fiasco are poignant as they demonstrate how his past wasn't as bright as he suggests. These events are on opposite sides of the wealth scale, but both are traumatic, which shows how Gatsby can't find comfort in poverty or wealth and that his belief that accumulating wealth will satisfy him spiritually is false.

Throughout the text, there is a theme of striping away layers; the gold on the statue is peeling away, Gatsby removes his jacket to go swimming and must move countless layers of clothes to reach his box containing a bathing suit. All of this is symbolic of how Gatsby is shedding his image and, to an extent, his dream, as he is no longer certain of his future with Daisy ("She did say, didn't she?"), although giving up the dream is symbolic of the end of Gatsby, who has become synonymous with it and hence he is immediately shot by Wilson, before he can blame Daisy for Myrtle's death. The box represents Gatsby's past life as James Gatz (hence the 'z') and how he has tried to hide it away under his showy clothes and lifestyle, but it contains what he needs; his bathing suit, showing how he should rely on character (unclean though it may be) rather than wealth and rumour.

A major theme of The Great Gatsby is how people with money influence the lives of those without, often in a very negative way. As such, I have made several references to this, including Gatsby's paying an artist in exposure rather than anything substantial like money, despite his wealth, and Wilson's gun, which is hinted to have been lent to him by Tom Buchanan, which kills both him and Gatsby in a backfire, showing how the carelessness of Tom and the gun-maker has resulted in casualties, not unlike losing pawns on a chessboard.


End file.
